The present invention relates to a fluid distributor.
Such a fluid distributor is known from the German Patent No. 33 17 583. This fluid distributor has a body of revolution, which is arranged around an axis of rotation, and a fluid divider, which communicates with a fluid source and is also connected to an exhaust passage, which emerges from the side wall of the body of revolution. The fluid emerges as a fluid jet out of this exhaust passage in a direction, which does not intersect the axis of rotation of the body of revolution, so that an angular momentum is exerted on the body of revolution, consequently setting this body in rotation. A releasing and restraining device, for example, a type of releasable brake, is provided to retain the bodies of revolution in fixed rotational positions and to guide them into other rotational positions. The known fluid distributor can be designed in a highly miniaturized version and used, for example, to guide small-caliber missiles. In this case, the body of revolution is mounted in the missile, whereby this missile features several perforations in its side wall, through which the fluid jet can be guided into the open air in a controlled operation, thereby exerting a transverse force on the missile.
The known fluid distributor can also be used in the operation of a miniaturized hot-gas engine, as is likewise described in the mentioned patent.
In principle, the known fluid distributor can be used with any type of fluid, for example gas, fluid, a gas/solid mixture, etc. In this sense, the term "fluid" shall be used in the following as well.
A multitude of applications are conceivable, where such a fluid distributor could be used. However, essentially only two functional positions of the body of revolution are of importance. They can be defined as the active or inactive position. The known fluid distributor can be used, for example, in a secondary injection system. In this case, all that matters in the active position is guiding a reacting fuel into the propelling jet of a discharge nozzle or preventing this in the inactive position. Since the known fluid distributor, provided that it only has one exhaust passage for the fluid, must always cover a complete revolution, that is, an angle of rotation of 360.degree., in order to attain the starting position again, the time it takes to rotate from the active position to the inactive position, or reverse, must be accepted as dead time.
This dead time can be reduced, when the bodies of revolution are provided with two exhaust passages on opposite sides of the wall of the body of revolution. The fluid jets emerging from the exhaust passages then exert oppositely directed angular momenta on the bodies of revolution. Then, when one exhaust passage is covered, the body of revolution executes vibratory movements, unless it is stopped by the brake in one of the two positions. Thus, such a fluid distributor requires a body of revolution with two exhaust passages and a cover surrounding the body of revolution with two perforations allocated to the exhaust passages of the body of revolution.